Articles Tagged with“PONZI scheme”

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed fraud charges in Federal Court in Miami, Florida against the owners and operators of Jay Peak Resort, a Vermont-based ski resort, and related businesses. The complaint alleges that millions of dollars were raised under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program.

According to the complaint, the main perpetrators were Ariel Quiros of Miami, and William Stenger of Newport, Vt., who raised in excess of $350 million from foreign investors on promises of green cards and returns on their invested monies. The money was to be used to construct ski resort facilities and a bio-medical research facility in Vermont.

The perpetrators promised that investor money would only be used to finance specific projects, but instead it is alleged that over $200 million was used for other purposes, $50 million of which Quiros used for personal expenses, including the purchase of a luxury condominium, income tax payments, and the acquisition of another Vermont ski resort, Burke Mountain, which he renamed Q Burke Mountain, and turned over to his son to manage.

While state and federal prosecutors in Massachusetts have secured more than $150 million of the $1 billion raised by alleged investment fraud, known as “TelexFree”, victims’ claims for restitution have yet to be processed. Authorities have said that these funds will not be available until the conclusion of the U.S. Department of Justice’s criminal case against the perpetrators of the fraud, Carlos Wanzeler and James Merrill. The court handling TelexFree’s pending bankruptcy proceedings also has approved a method for disbursing funds.

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